He Ain't Heavy
by A-very-supernatural-fan
Summary: The trials take their toll on Sam, but Dean is there to help him through the day. Takes place sometime after the events of 8x17 – "Goodbye Stranger." Hurting!Sam, Caring!Big-brother!Dean.


HE AIN'T HEAVY

**Summary: **The trials take their toll on Sam, but Dean is there to help him through the day. Takes place sometime after the events of 8x17 – "Goodbye Stranger." **Hurting!Sam, Caring!Big-brother!Dean.**

**Author's note: **Just a little bit of brotherly fluff while waiting for another episode of Supernatural to air.

-Elisa.

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"_I may not be able to carry the burden that comes along with these trials. But I can carry you._"

- Dean Winchester, Supernatural 8x17 – "_Goodbye Stranger_".

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"Sam?" Dean called as he walked through the entrance to what he'd named _The Bat Cave_ (also known as the Men Of Letters bunker) with his duffel bag casually flung over his shoulder. "Hey, I'm home."

The older Winchester brother headed straight for the library where Sam was more or less always to find, but as Dean stepped into the book-filled room, he saw no geeky little brother bent over any of the old books in the impressive collection in the library. Only an abandoned laptop and an open book with a half-eaten sandwich next to it proved that Sam had been there recently.

"Sammy?" Dean called, dumped his duffel bag on a chair and searched the deserted room with his eyes as worry started seeping into his heart.

Maybe it hadn't been such a great idea to leave Sam behind in the bunker after all.

Ever since Dean had discovered Sam's bloody rag in the trash can and confronted his brother with the fact that Sam wasn't doing as fine as he claimed to be, Dean had been extra attentive towards Sam. The trials were taking their toll on the youngest Winchester and Dean was in highest big brother alert; he watched over his little brother, protected him and cared for him in a way he hadn't done for quite a long time, and – surprisingly enough – despite Sam's perpetual complains over the years about being an adult and not wanting to be babied by his big brother, Sam let him do it.

The younger brother was still determined on doing the trials and still claimed that he could manage hunts as well as he'd always done, but Sam was far from being at the top of his game - and he knew it too, as well as Dean did. Though one should never underestimate the strength of Sam Winchester, Dean could no longer trust in the fact that Sam was capable of looking after himself – not when Sam's health was deteriorating just a little bit more by each passing day, and he was relying more and more on his older brother to get him through the day.

"Sam?" Dean called once more as he left the library and continued his search for the younger brother in the other rooms of the old bunker.

Dean walked back through the room he'd originally passed to get to the library, and walked the stairs to the second level of the bunker. He'd just peeked into the room Sam usually slept in when the distant - but unmistakable - sound of coughing caught Dean's attention, and he walked towards it, pushed open the door to the bathroom and finally found who he'd been looking for.

"Geez, kid." Dean said in a soft voice as he took in the sight in front of him.

Sam, who was sitting on the floor of the bathroom, – right beside the toilet and with his back leaning against the tiled wall - slowly opened his closed eyes by the sound of his brother's voice.

"Dean." Sam croaked out, and a tired smile settled on his face. "You're back."

"Yeah." Dean nodded and walked further into the small bathroom - eyes shortly falling upon the bloody contents in the toilet bowl, before he crouched down in front of Sam with a concerned look on his face.

"You okay?" Dean asked, grasping Sam's shoulder and studying the fatigue in the green eyes that used to be so full of life.

"Peachy." Sam replied without losing the weary smile - then coughed a little which made a thin line of blood trickle down his chin.

Dean clenched his jaw by the sight of the blood but gently wiped the crimson away with his sleeve, before Sam could even begin to raise a hand to do it himself. The youngest Winchester looked pale and completely drained for energy, and Dean wondered – with an ache in his heart – how long Sam had been sitting on the cold floor of the bathroom; alone and hurting.

"I haven't been here for long." Sam said as if reading Dean's mind. "How was Kevin?"

"Still busy translating the rest of the tablet." Dean said as he wrapped his arms around Sam's chest and hoisted his brother to his feet. "Garth says hi too."

Sam only nodded as the small action of getting to his feet – even with Dean doing most of the work – had left him panting and sweating. Without even noticing himself, Sam's head came to a rest against Dean's shoulder, and the brothers stayed like that for a little bit, while Dean patiently waited for Sam to catch his breath.

"You good?" Dean asked when Sam's breathing eventually returned to a normal rhythm, and Sam then nodded against Dean's shoulder. "Good. Let's get you to bed."

"I found us a hunt." Sam said as Dean moved the younger man's arm around his shoulder.

"That sounds awesome Sammy, and I can't wait to hear all about it – _tomorrow_." Dean added, emphasizing the latter, before leading Sam towards his room.

Sam let out one of those sighs that were always followed by a protest, but the younger brother was too exhausted to argue and the mention of a bed didn't sound as such a bad idea to Sam after all.

The youngest Winchester brother had spent all day by his laptop; looking for a case while waiting for Dean to return from the short visit on Garth's boat. He'd been feeling pretty well all day – until about an hour ago when his chest had suddenly started hurting. The coughing had started next, followed by the taste of blood in his mouth, and even though it happened more often than Sam cared to admit, the younger hunter never got used to it. The coughing had kept getting worse, and Sam had eventually dragged himself to the small bathroom on the upper floor where he'd spit up blood in the sink. It was while rinsing the bloody mess away with water that he'd suddenly been hit by a bout of dizziness that had made his stomach revolve, and a few moments later Sam could be found kneeling in front of the toilet bowl; returning the half sandwich he'd managed to consume. But it wasn't just the sandwich that had reappeared – Sam had also puked up a decent amount of blood before he'd collapsed against the wall in a shaky mess; too exhausted to move while he waited for his big brother to find him.

"It's a ghost hunt." Sam said as Dean led him to his bed. "Peoria, Illinois."

"Tomorrow, Sam." Dean repeated and sat his brother down on the bed.

Another wave of exhaustion washed over Sam as he felt the soft bed underneath him, and he slumped a bit on the edge of it while Dean crouched down in front of him to pull off his shoes. Dean helped Sam get rid of his overshirt too and then decided to let his brother keep the jeans and t-shirt since Sam was more asleep than awake at this point.

"Alright, here we go." Dean said, easing Sam back against the pillows and elevating Sam's legs to the bed as well before draping the covers over his little brother.

"Thanks." Sam mumbled and opened his eyes to slits to look at Dean.

"Don't worry about it." Dean said in a soft voice. "Just go to sleep."

Sam nodded shortly, blinked slowly a couple of times without losing eye contact with his big brother until his eyes finally stayed closed and his breathing evened out. Dean washed both hands down his face with a sigh and, now that Sam was asleep, he could no longer hide the anxiety and sorrow he felt from seeing his little brother this weak and vulnerable. Sure, Sam had good days and bad days - with this particular day being of the bad kind - Dean knew that, but he also knew that the bad days would keep coming more often. Hell, it hadn't been more than three days since Dean had woken up in the middle of the night to the sound of Sam practically coughing his lungs up. Dean would never forget the panic he'd seen on his frightened little brother's face when Sam had been unable to breath for a few agonizing moments.

Dean cupped Sam's cheek in a sudden urge to let his brother know that he was still there and then smiled through blurry eyes when Sam leaned into his touch.

"You're gonna survive these trials, you hear me?" Dean said in a low voice and blinked back the sting of tears before leaving the room.

The oldest Winchester brother walked down the stairs once more and went back to the library where he intended to fetch his duffel bag and clean the guns he kept inside of it. Dean changed his mind in the middle of doing so and instead walked to the laptop Sam had left behind earlier in his rush to get to the bathroom. The laptop was still turned on and, after Dean had let a finger slide over the touchpad to wake up the dormant computer screen, the older brother took in the sight of the research Sam had been working on.

"Nice job, college boy." Dean mumbled with a wry smile, then shook his head with a chuckle when he also noticed Sam's own scribbled notes as an addition to the research he'd done.

Dean's smile soon faded though as his eyes fell upon the remaining half sandwich Sam had failed to finish. The younger Winchester brother barely ate anything these days and his clothes had already started to turn baggy, which just added more things for Dean to worry about – as if Sam _coughing up_ _blood_ wasn't bad enough.

After closing the lid of the laptop with a sigh, Dean picked up Sam's half-eaten sandwich and dumped it in the trash can, before grabbing a beer from the fridge. He unscrewed the top of the bottle, took a sip of the beer and collapsed into one of the leather-covered armchairs with another sigh.

The older Winchester brother stared into space for a while as his thoughts solely focused on Sam and the trials. But even with everything they were dealing with, Dean still knew that the two of them would be heading for Illinois in the morning - cause that was the Winchester way; to save the lives of innocent people, even if it meant putting aside everything else.

"_No, not everything._" Dean thought to himself. "_Sam came first_.. _Always_."

As if on cue, the sound of Sam's coughing rang through the old bunker and Dean's forehead furrowed in concern. He put the beer aside, fetched a bottle of water from the fridge and walked the stairs once more. Sam was still coughing when Dean silently walked into the room, sat down on the edge of the bed and carefully hoisted the younger man into a sitting position.

"D-Dean." Sam wheezed out between coughs and Dean gently shushed him.

"I'm here, Sammy." Dean assured his little brother. "Come on."

Dean unscrewed the bottle of water and held it to Sam's lips while the younger brother took a careful sip of the cold liquid.

"Thanks." Sam croaked out and leaned back against his pillows with a sigh after Dean had fluffed them a bit.

Dean shot his brother a small smile, put the bottle away and then let his thumb gently massage Sam's temple in a soothing way while Sam closed his eyes and tried to get his breathing under control.

"Have I ever told you the full story about that waitress in Tampa?" Dean asked and didn't wait for his brother to answer before he began his story and, calmed by his big brother's presence, Sam fell asleep within minutes – which had been Dean's intention all along.

"Night Sammy." Dean whispered, made sure Sam was properly tucked in and quickly scanned Sam's room with his eyes for any possible dangers, before he left it behind to walk to his own room.

Dean didn't know how this was all gonna end – if Sam would keep getting worse as the brothers came closer and closer to closing the gates of hell, or if his little brother would even get through these trials in one piece – but by the end of the day, Dean would be there to pick up Sam and carry him the last bit of the way.

For now though, there was no reason for Dean to keep worrying about things he couldn't do anything about but instead focus on what he _could _do and had been doing for as long as he could remember; looking out for Sammy.

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**THE END.**

**Reviews are love!**

**-Elisa. **


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